AI can save time and boost performance, but it can also go haywire in spectacular ways. And human intuition – our sense of right and wrong based on years of experience in marketing – can spot what AI can’t.
At this year’s Programmatic IO conference in Las Vegas, our speakers showed how AI is moving from hype to concrete products and tactics marketers can incorporate into their business.
For example, Headspace chatted with AI marketing personas to develop insights for a seasonal ad campaign. Images were generated with Adobe Firefly. Hundreds of copy variations were generated with AI and approved by a human copywriting team. And the campaign itself ran on two of the most dominant AI-infused buying platforms: Google Performance Max and Meta.
But we also saw the importance of checks and what obstacles remain in using AI. Some brands may struggle to generate enough conversion data for algorithms. Or an unusual aspect of their business, like a long conversion window or a high order value, could baffle algorithms designed for low-consideration purchases. That was the case for James & James, a high-end furniture retailer whose campaigns were performing well, according to platform metrics, but weren’t driving business outcomes.
In a live-recorded podcast to close out our Programmatic IO conference, we discuss how the marketing community is adopting AI, but with two important guardrails: human intuition and independent measurement.
Plus: Why anthropomorphizing AI tools bugs us, and some intel on the “tithing” aspect to retail media.
